1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to computing devices and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for preventing overheating of a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
For notebook computer devices, there tends to be a high disk failure rate due to overheating of the hard disk, the video card, the processor or other components. Very often a notebook computer user will change the default Windows power saving settings of his or her computer. One group of settings that is changed often is the power setting associated with the “Lid Close Action.” This power setting is invoked upon closing the lid of the notebook computer. By default, usually the setting for “Lid Close Action—On Battery” and “Lid Close Action—Plugged In” are set such that when the lid is closed, the notebook computer is put into a “sleep” mode. The “sleep” mode is such that, when a user re-opens their notebook, there is no required wait time to start up the system software, or a very minimal amount of time to wait. Often times, a user will configure the laptop to “Do Nothing” when the notebook lid is closed. In the “Do Nothing” mode, the LCD display is powered off, so when a user reopens their notebook lid, no wait time is required. However, the CPU and the hard disk continue to operate when the lid is closed in “Do Nothing” mode and heat builds up causing detriment to the computer. This problem is exacerbated when a user carries the computer in a poorly ventilated bag. This situation eventually leads to hardware failure of the computer.
Many warnings given to users of Windows, for example, are given through the use of a balloon pop-up, with an appropriate message displayed in the balloon, in the notification area. But once the lid of the notebook is closed, the user is unable to see the pop-up warnings regarding overeating.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for preventing overheating of a computer.